Joe Garner has travelled with the Town squad to Middlesbrough for tomorrow’s game at the Riverside having overcome his foot injury, while fellow striker David McGoldrick is set to make his return next Saturday when Reading visit Portman Road. Skipper Luke Chambers will be back for the Boro game after his one-match ban.
"He’s trained, he trained yesterday, he trained fully today,” manager Mick McCarthy said regarding Garner, who has missed the last two matches, the victories over Derby and Nottingham Forest, at his lunchtime press conference prior to joining his players on the coach to the North-East.
"He got involved with the ball and he’s done everything that you’d want him to do, so he’s travelling, he’s in the squad.
"It’s good to have him back. Thankfully, we didn’t miss him. I get that question every week, ‘Will we miss Luke Chambers, will we miss whoever?’ and I say every time that I hope we don’t, and we haven’t. But it’s damned good to have him back though.”
Regarding McGoldrick, who has been out after suffering a gash to his groin in the Sheffield Wednesday match, he added: "Next Saturday, that’s the plan. His wound has healed up, he’s been out on the grass today and if everything goes well, next Saturday.”
Midfielder Tom Adeyemi (hamstring) and central defender Tommy Smith (calf) are also both making good progress.
"Tommy Smith’s training, he won’t be travelling tomorrow, but he’s training, he’s OK, he’s fit, he just needs to get some match practice as much as anything,” the Blues boss continued.
"And Tom Adeyemi smiled and said he’d turned a corner today. I bumped into him in the corridor, maybe it was that corner, I don’t know. He’s feeling a lot better about himself.”
McCarthy says it won’t be too long before they’re both involved with the first team again: "I hope so, of course. We’ve used probably the fewest players in the league, so to get good players back would be a real benefit to us.”
Luke Hyam is also back in training having undergone knee surgery in September but the Town manager says he’s still some way from returning to the squad.
"Hyamsy was out on the grass today with David McGoldrick but I’m not going to be talking about involving him in the team just yet.”
Tristan Nydam misses the trip to Teesside with a knock to his hip, but Flynn Downes is back from a one-match ban, as is captain Chambers, who McCarthy has confirmed will return to the centre of the defence.
The Blues boss says whoever drops out - almost certainly either Dominic Iorfa or Jordan Spence - will realise why even if they won’t be entirely happy.
"They’ll understand it but they might not like it, but that doesn’t bother me because Chambo’s a really important part of us,” he said.
"I was going to say we didn’t miss him last week but we conceded two goals. Thankfully we’ve got a really good threat at the other end and scored four. He’s great. We miss him in terms of his voice and his organisation and his captain’s skills, he’s great.”